I’ve mentioned it before and will probably continue talking about it from time to time. I have one item that I designed that I am about ready to market. I have another that is in the design stage.

I got a new filament in the mail today, TPU, it’s called and so far it prints super easy. I’m printing out feet for a much larger 3D printer I’d picked up for cheap on ebay.

Someone had started trying to build one but got discouraged and gave up, it had a bad mother board and some of the parts they made were not very good. That being said, they would have worked fine. Sadly however by the time it arrived, it was basically destroyed in shipping.

I spent a great deal of time reprinting parts that were broken, some I modified to make them stronger or more suited for what I was wanting. This was done before I was very well versed in 3D printing and I can see much room for improvement but my goal for now is to get it up and tunning.

I can modify it as time goes by if I feel it’s needed and will be of enough benifit, with the large bed size I can print many small items at a time, that is if I can even sell anything. What I’m currently wanting to sell is pretty much niche market items though I can see at least the first one carry over into other markets and be useful, though there may need to be some modifications in design.

Only time will tell for sure but I’m learning and having fun at the same time so I’m content for now. Even if I never sell any of the things I’m making I can still print out parts for other things I’m using, seeder disks for my planter and things for growing plants, etc.

Below I’ve included a link to a short video I put on tic tok of the feet for the larger printer bring made, it’s so mesmerizing to watch as the layers add up and the item being printed takes shape.

Best of luck and and may your ventures be met with sucess.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRn2qNyH/

It’s still far too cold out to start putting plants out but I’m chomping at the bit. My strawberries finally sprouted and my asparagus is breaking through the soil in my starters.

Been going a bit stir crazy waiting for the planting season to start. Being cooped up isn’t good for you.

Tonight I fired up the grill and grilled some steaks and enjoyed the fire pit for a bit. Kind of cold for that too to be honest. But it felt good to sit under the stars and ponder life in general for awhile.

It would have been nice to have someone enjoying it with me but that’s just not meant to be for now. The boys thought I was crazy for doing it, such is life.

Enjoy the little things in life, sooner or later you’ll realize, if you haven’t already, that it is the little things that make life great.

The fire pit is made from a discarded semi’s brake drum. Once it’s hot it stays hot for some time. Next time it’s fired up there will be some smores made.

Best of luck and may your ventures be met with sucess!

  I took a short break but I’m back. Needed to clear my mind and focus on my priorities a bit.

  Worked on the house, 3D printer, a little on garden plants and chatted with a few friends.

I don’t know about everyone else but I’m past ready to start putting plants out, the wait is killing me. Meanwhile the plants I have started just keep getting bigger and bigger, which is good. I’m glad they are growing.

I however have some plants that have yet to sprout, my strawberries being the most disappointing. Hopefully they will grow but my hopes are fading for them as the days go by. If I have to I’ll buy bare root plants again. They didn’t grow last year but I’ll buy from another place this year.

With time and weather constraints, I have yet to get started on my raised beds. I have all my materials rounded up, just need a little time when the temperatures is above freezing for a day or two.

This is a short post, the next will be better and hopefully at least a bit longer and share something of vslue.

Best of luck and may your ventures be met with success!

Am I the only that struggles with keeping things organized?

I can go through every square inch of the property and put things where they make sense, clean everything and throw tons of stuff away, and yet in a week or two. Bam, right back like it started.

It drives me crazy to have things out of place and yet I’m constantly finding things where they shouldn’t be or come across something that needs cleaned, yet again.

Having four people in a tiny home, some 650 square feet certainly doesn’t help. Especially when no one sees eye to eye just exactly what neat and clean means.

However it takes less time to clean a small space. I can go through and clean and pick up the place in short order but it seems to be never ending. I’m not really complaining, just frustrated that it feels like I’m all over the place all the time.

I wake up, get ready for work and work on the house, come home for lunch, work on the house. Get home from work, work on the house. Dishes are done as they are used and always washed and put up before going to bed, laundry as well. Floors are swept and cleaned constantly and yet it always feels like I need to do more.

I’m confident no one on their death bed ever exclaimed “if only I could have done more house work!”

So I’m doing something different and I’m meeting some resistance but I’m confident if I stay the course and am persistent everyone else in the home will see the logic behind what I’m doing and even why.

I’ve watched tons of videos and have a little over half a century of practical experience in cleaning and organizing. Funny how having young children around can lead to chaos..lol

I have stumbled across a house cleaning schedule that actually seems like it could work here, so I printed it off hung it in plain sight for all to see. Everyone has specific chores to perfom daily, and while we already do these things, it seems having it posted makes a bit of a difference.

Instead of spot cleaning like I was before I’ll follow my new list, making sure I’m deep cleaning as I go because it seems, at least to me, the more through you are the longer it will last.

Yeah, I know. I can almost hear the moaning now. What does that have to do with homesteading?

  In a typical off grid homestead, probably not much, however in our case it plays a pretty big part. It provides entertainment and some educational benifits.

  And hopefully some financial benifit as well. I’m currently working on a replacement part for a tool that so far as I know isn’t readily available.

  It’s my hopes making the part available will bring in at least some extra cash. I’ll post pictures at a later date but here is the printer in action printing the part I’m talking about.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRtyWqq5/

I also print things we need around the house and the more I learn about design the more useful and practical things I can. Sometimes it’s cheaper and almost always faster to purchase things form others unless of course if it has to be bought online.

Best of luck and may your ventures be met with success!

I’ve made several videos for youtube and yet when it comes to the blog I feel unqualified to record.

I had what I felt was a decent start then stopped because the boys came home from church, and they are usually wound for sound and they would have drowned me out anyways.

After things calmed back down I tried to restart but it just didn’t feel right. I just have to dig in and start doing videos if I’m ever going to improve at it. So here’s what I did today, feel free to give constructive criticism or other feed back, even if it isn’t constructive in nature. I figure it all helps in the end.

This was my second attempt.

Not sure why it cut off like it did but as I said I’m not very good at this yet. I’m confident I’ll improve as time goes by. I figure I’ll record at least a video a day. I won’t share them unless or until I feel it’s notan assault on your senses.

May your ventures be met with success!

Once you use onions you’ve dehydrated yourself you won’t want store bought again.

Everyone should dehydrate onions at least once. However there are a few things you’ll want to consider first. You’ll need to consider what you’ll use it for and if you’re going to vacuum seal it after it’s been dehydrated.

You’ll want to make certain that the onion is throughly dried before trying to store it in air tight containers or you’ll run into problems and end up throwing it out not only wasting the onion but also your time and money if it’s store bought.

The bigger the pieces are the longer they will store. I’d recommend making smaller batches of powder for oninon salt or onion powder. You’ll be able to find videos on those subjects.

As wih all things you should experiment and see what works best for you personally. What works well for me and what I like may not be what is best for you.

Since I’m no expert, I’ll share a video to help you on your way but I will caution you against dehydrating onions inside your house, or any other structure that you have to go into.

Months ago I made the mistake of starting a big onion in the house when I headed out to work. When I came home for lunch I could barely stand to be inside long enough to remove it from the house. Not to mention I could barely see through the nonstop flowing tears. It burned my eyes and my nose and the boys were less than impressed.

The smell soaked into everything in the house including the cast iron in the shower drain. Every now and then I can still detect a scent of onion in the house.

That being said dig in and go for it, best of luck and may your ventures be met with success!

https://youtu.be/bwni4zvUHxk

I know that it takes healthy soil to grow plants. I know how to make my soil healthy and how to make good compost. I’ve been doing this since I helped my dad garden well over 50 years ago.

I however am not well versed on what it is im the soil that actually does all the heavy lifting so to say.

If you have organic material and worms in your soil you doing pretty good imo.

However if you wish to understand more the following video will help you learn more and there are of many othe videos to watch and even classes on the subject.

I’m getting there but have a long way to go still. Hopefully you’ll find this useful. Best of luck and may your ventures be met with sucess!

https://youtu.be/vIQwy0Xn9AU

  I’ve been planning a large raised bed but have been considering several smaller ones now instead.

  I figure if I make shorter beds I can make many smaller beds and give each one of the boys their own gardens to tend.

  It’ll be easier to work the beds and I won’t feel nearly as much pressure as I would trying to fill a 4X20x3 bed and have it ready by Spring time.

    Instead the beds will be 3X8 and closer to 16″ tall instead of the 36″ originally planned.  The boys would have a hard time tending to a 3 foot tall bed, the oldest just hit 5′.

We also have several small containers that we use for planting and will add more as they are found.

  There is a reclaimed tote by the front door that will have lettuce, celery and carrots and we may have some chives in there as well to hopefully combat aphids. The bottom half was filled with yard waste mixed with soil and then covered  with potting soil. There are six good sized holes for drainage and also to allow earth worms to come and go as they please.

A couple other containers are there as well, one will have our cherry tomato that the youngest and I plant every year and the other will likely have spinach.

  Time will tell and plans may change with time as they often do for us but I’m working towards being as self sufficient as I can and I want the boys to take what we learn and pass it on to their children and grandchildren.

  If I can help them have food security through sharing knowledge and providing them a place to raise food I’ll feel like maybe  I have accomplished something with my life.